California's supreme court backed a ban on gay marriage today, ruling six-to-one that a voter-approved proposition defining marriage as between a man and a woman could stand.
The court, which last year unexpectedly opened the door to same-sex unions, bowed to the rule of the majority of California voters who passed the ban known as Proposition 8 last November.
But the court also said the roughly 18,000 marriages that took place in the state before the November ban remained valid since the ban was not retroactive.
"Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognised in California," Chief Justice Ronald George wrote in the court's opinion.
The focus of the opinion was on the constitutionality of the November vote. It rejected arguments that a majority could not vote away rights of a minority. The court also said - countering arguments against the ban - that the change in the state constitution was not big enough to require a tougher process for passage.
The passage of Prop 8 by a 52 per cent majority last year spurred nationwide protests by gay advocates and drew praise from social conservatives.
Today's court decision is unlikely to be the last move in what is seen as a battleground state in US culture wars.
Gay rights advocates on the courthouse steps in San Francisco began shouting "Shame on you" as soon as the decision was made public. Protest marches are planned throughout California and advocates expect to try to change the state constitution again - to affirm gay marriage - as soon as November 2010.
"We must resolve to overturn this decision. Let this work start today," said San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, whose city has long been a champion of gay rights in the United States.
Backers of the ban savored their victory.
"This is the culmination of years of hard work to preserve marriage in California," Andrew Pugno, a lawyer defending the ban, said in a statement. "The Supreme Court has acknowledged the right of voters to define marriage in the California Constitution. The voters have decided this issue and their views should be respected."
Before the California court's move today, a flurry of pro-gay marriage rulings and votes in Iowa and New England this year had appeared to reverse a trend toward banning them in the United States.
Most US states do not allow same-sex marriage.
Reuters